Denver Broncos / NFL

Broncos rookie tight end Julius Thomas creates early buzz

Rookie Julius Thomas has created some early buzz.
(Hyoung Chang, The Denver Post
)

Julius Thomas jogged out of the tunnel and onto the Invesco Field at Mile High turf for the first time Saturday afternoon. And as he ran to join his teammates for some prescrimmage warm-ups, a handful of fans who were sitting in the front row screamed his name.

Smart fan, that one, considering Thomas' name isn't yet on the back of his blue No. 80 jersey.

The rookie tight end smiled, then increased his jog to a run.

It's just 10 days into Broncos training camp, yet Thomas has emerged as a player to watch.The Broncos already have Von Miller, Rahim Moore and Orlando Franklin penciled into the starting lineup, but each was a top-50 pick in the draft.

When the Broncos drafted Thomas in the fourth round in April, they figured they were taking on a project. A physically gifted, 6-foot-5, 246-pound former basketball player, Thomas had only 11 games on his football resume, all at Portland State.

Yet it has been Thomas creating the most buzz of any of the Broncos' nine draft picks. Though his name was buried on the first official depth chart released by the team Monday, Thomas is making an impression, consistently working with the first-team offense. He has made several highlight-reel catches against the Broncos' top defenders. He's picking up the NFL game a lot more quickly than just about anyone expected.

"For me, it's like looking up to the top of a mountain. There is just so much more I have to get done," Thomas said.

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He was a football-crazy kid growing up in Lodi, Calif. He went out for the freshman team at Tokay High, but his prep football career ended there as he began to focus exclusively on basketball. It was a decision fully supported by his mother, Toria.

"I wanted to wait until he was little older, with his body fully grown," Toria Thomas said. "Once he was in college, I supported him playing football. I just wanted to make sure my baby was all set before he went out there and got hit."

Thomas played four seasons of Division I basketball at Portland State. The power forward helped lead the Vikings to the NCAA Tournament his junior year.

But he never lost his love of football, and he used his fifth year of collegiate eligibility to join the Vikings' football team a year ago. He played well enough last fall, and showed enough raw talent, to attract the attention of several NFL teams, including the Broncos, who sent tight ends coach Clancy Barone to Oregon to put Thomas through a private workout and film study session.

"You think you'd be starting from square one, but they — I mean the coaches at Portland State — did a fantastic job of teaching this guy football. It wasn't like I had nothing to work with," Barone said. "We watched film together for a couple of hours, and I tried to teach him some basic concepts, and then I listened to him talk about what he saw on film, and I saw that it wouldn't be a big jump mentally for him."

Between that workout and April's draft, Thomas called Barone to say thanks and tell Barone how much he'd like to be a Bronco.

"It was probably not too smart to get your hopes up on one team, but I was like, sometimes you just have to go with your gut and do something that feels right," Thomas said.

Broncos rookie tight end Julius Thomas runs a route as Kyle Orton drops back to pass at training camp Monday. Despite his basketball background, Thomas is making a strong bid for playing time.
(John Leyba, The Denver Post
)

The feeling was mutual by then. As the Broncos prepped for the draft, Barone told general manager Brian Xanders, football operations boss John Elway and coach John Fox that the top tight end on his draft board was Thomas. The other tight end Barone wanted was Virgil Green from Nevada. The Broncos selected both — Thomas in the fourth round and Green in the seventh.

Now the rookies are in perhaps the most interesting position battle of camp. There is no incumbent starter at tight end after the departure of veteran Daniel Graham. Six players — free-agent additions Daniel Fells and Dante Rosario, returners Dan Gronkow-ski and Richard Quinn and the rookies — are competing for three, maybe four, roster spots.

Barone said he and offensive coordinator Mike McCoy spent many hours over the course of the NFL lockout talking about getting increased production from the tight ends. Last year, the Broncos' tight ends combined for only 27 catches.

"We tried to devise ways to utilize the best athletes on the field at all times," Barone said.

Cue Thomas, who is proving to be a natural pass catcher. It will take time for him to catch up as a blocker, but it may be hard for the Broncos to keep Thomas off the field if they're looking to upgrade their pass offense.

He has developed a rapport with quarterback Brady Quinn after joining Quinn in Denver for summer throwing sessions, and he has been a favorite target of both Tim Tebow and Kyle Orton.

"At the end of the day, they are going to select the tight ends that they think will help this team the most, and you've just got to hope that you're one of them," Thomas said.

Six-pack at tight end

Daniel Fells: Biggest of the Broncos' tight ends at 272 pounds and perhaps the best blocker. Had 41 catches last season for the Rams. Listed No. 1 on the Denver depth chart.

Virgil Green: Seventh-round pick from Nevada, where he played in a "pistol" offense.

Dan Gronkowski: More of a receiving tight end than a blocker. Had eight catches in 2010.

Richard Quinn: North Carolina product and second-round pick in the 2009 draft has only one catch in his NFL career.

Dante Rosario: Played for John Fox when Fox coached the Carolina Panthers. That could help his chances.

Julius Thomas: Rookie from Portland State appears to be a natural receiver, but the fourth-round pick is the Broncos' most inexperienced tight end because he played more basketball than football in college.

Camp surprises

Julius Thomas has been making Broncos fans at training camp say, "Who's that guy?" But he's not the first unheralded player to impress at the start of camp. Here's a few of those camp standouts from recent seasons:

2010: Wide receiver Matthew Willis seemingly caught every pass thrown his direction. He impressed coaches enough to earn a spot on the 53-man roster. His season ended prematurely with a foot injury in October.

2008: Mike Shanahan casually compared rookie fourth-round pick Ryan Torain to Terrell Davis early in camp as Torain was steadily climbing the depth chart. But Torain dislocated his elbow during a practice and didn't see the field till November, when he tore his anterior cruciate ligament in his first game.

2007: Running back Selvin Young was an undrafted rookie but impressed Shanahan enough in camp that he was named the No. 2 back. He would lead the Broncos in rushing that season.

2006: Shanahan fell in love with undrafted rookie Mike Bell, a running back from Arizona, so much that Bell became the No. 1 tailback during the preseason. He rushed for 677 yards and eight touchdowns that season, but later fell out of favor with Shanahan and was released in 2008.

Lockheed says object part of 'sensor technology' testing that ended ThursdayWhat the heck is that thing? It's fair to assume that question was on the minds of many people who traveled along Colo. 128 south of Boulder this week if they happened to catch a glimpse of what appeared to be a large, silver projectile perched alongside the highway and pointed north toward town.

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